Trying to find a business (or just any) use for Twitter? [pt. 1]

Post by Guest Blogger Jason Lander of ShiftWise

I’m guessing you never thought you would use the word “tweet” when referring to any aspect of your business. But for many of us this word has become part of our everyday vocabulary.

For those of you that haven’t heard of Twitter (no it is not the cool new electronic toy your child wants for Christmas), it is a service that lets people communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages that are limited to 140 characters. You can post these messages directly on twitter or with a text message or mobile app through your cell phone.

Seems strange yes? I thought so at first too. It took me about 30 days to figure out Twitter but once I did it became an indispensable part of my life. It’s all about connecting to a community or group of friends and participating in order to ask questions, share information or advice, post news articles, self-promote, communicate your whereabouts or activities, or make new acquaintances.

Here is a good beginners guide to Twitter if you want to understand more.

I’ve been using Twitter for several months now but have been recently intrigued by the potential business opportunities for the healthcare staffing industry that exist with Twitter. Business opportunities with 140 character posts? Yes. Read on.

I created a Staffing Robot Twitter Page only a few short months ago and already I'm following 235 members and have 128 followers. Many of these people are participants in the healthcare staffing industry – hospitals, staffing suppliers, healthcare professionals, etc. By connecting with these people I’ve been able to get helpful industry information such as: learning about innovative hospitals, finding suppliers posting job openings for healthcare professionals and finding nurses frustrated with trying to find a job.

Sounding more interesting? I hope so.

So your next question might be how did I find all of these members on Twitter? The answer is I’m magic and not going to tell you. At least not until part 2 of this post so stay tuned. For now though, I will show you (in the video below) how to set up a Twitter account for your hospital, medical staffing agency or for yourself.

Jason Lander is VP of Business Development for ShiftWise. For more of Jason's posts, you can visit his blog, the Staffing Robot.

2. Understand the media & 3. Ideas on how to use it

1. CWD website: With the augmentation of the following tools, the website is a home for information on CWD. The primary updated sections are News, Portfolio and Evergreen resources (which I separated below)
   
2. CWD blog: This is a place to express our understanding of the industry, talk about what we learn from projects and share relevant technology with our customers. Common tags may be: Our Work, Evergreen, Industry news, Web Applications, Portland, Thought leadership, Developer Resources, and Random
   
3. CWD newsletter: We would like to grow 'opt in' subscriptions for the newsletter. This is a tool to deliver all content from CWD. The newsletter goes out once a quarter. 
   
4. CWD Evergreen support portal: This section of the CWD website is used by existing clients. We often add new tutorials, videos and links.
   
5. CWD clients: Most clients allow us to create a link from their website to ours. 
6. Twitter: The latest in social media buzz. It is a simple application which could be recreated if needed. The app  is very flexible with RSS. All tweets are public. Used almost more for business than personal. 
   
7. Facebook: Also highly popular as a social tool. Businesses use it for advertising more than communication. The benefit to this platform is the developer community and long list of modules. Most of the content is private. 
   
8. YouTube: I used the title YouTube, but this could be any video site really. Users can create channels and embed those videos onto a web page or facebook easily. YouTube has a built in Twitter and facebook link. 
   
9. Linkedin: Primarily a business tool used for networking. Typically profiles are person based and not company based. Some content is public. I am not sure about built in functions with other social sites, but I would presume that is coming. 
   
10. SAO (software association of oregon): A community social network, any user has the ability to post blogs, forums or add photos. 
    
11. Babson Alumni network: Same platform as SAO (ning.com)
12. OEN (oregon entrepreneurs network): Not on the ning platform but offers some similar features. Users can post blogs and discussions. Content is RSS enabled from the site. 
13. Google reader/Google calendar/ Google Profiles: G is the powerhouse. The Reader platform/iGoogle can be used to monitor a number of RSS feeds. Calendars can accept RSS feeds of ical format and then embedded onto a page. Permissions are a little tricky but not if it is 100% public. 
14. Del.ic.ous: Book marking tool that is RSS enabled delivering content. Bookmarks can be made easily with a web browser plug in and links on most news websites. 
15. Personal employee websites: Most companies, like ours, have over 505 of the staff with their own website. Flexibility is key, but things take longer to get implemented on these sites. Link creation is one of the better options if your employees are passionate about it. 

Other technologies to consider:

Feedburner for RSS tracking

1. Identify Media

Step one starts by writing down all of your media touch points. Once you get them all down on traditional page (this is an important step) digitize them:

1. CWD website
   
2. CWD blog
   
3. CWD newsletter
   
4. CWD Evergreen support portal
   
5. CWD clients
6. Twitter
   
7. Facebook
   
8. YouTube
   
9. Linkedin
   
10. SAO (software association of oregon)
    
11. Babson Alumni network
12. OEN (oregon entrepreneurs network)
13. Google reader/Google calendar/ Google Profiles
14. Del.ic.ous
15. Personal employee websites

Wow, that is a long list and we are much smaller than most of our clients!

Now on to the next step: Understand media. 

New (Social) Media Strategy

I am sure you have heard the saying, "The cobblers children have no shoes." Well the web development company has no social media strategy. We are always so busy doing it for clients. Well yesterday I went to a lecture on the New Media strategy for the Obama Campaign. It was amazing and inspiring. So I said YES WE CAN have a true strategy even while working our tails off for clients. To make this a learning process for all, I decided to blog about the process. 

Stay tuned for the following posts:

1. Identify media (see chicken scratch in the next post)
2. Understand the media/data
3. Develop ideas on how to use it
4. Link ideas to company strategy
5. Develop technology
6. Delivery content
7. Repeat step 6, over and over

Fritz's 7 minute steps to a new media strategy. 

Content is the Hard Part

Post by Guest Blogger Dawn Foster

Everyone seems to be jumping into blogging, Twitter, Facebook, online communities and other social media efforts. On the surface, this may seem like a technology issue, the real issue is around content. Most companies can start a blog or other social media engagements with few technology issues, but when it comes to creating compelling content that works within these new social communities, this is where companies and individuals tend to struggle.
Many corporate blogs, Twitter accounts, and other social media efforts are neglected, dull, and unimaginative while filled with press release content, marketing fluff, and outdated content. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. Your content can be interesting and useful with a little focus and time devoted to it. Here are a few tips to help turn your boring corporate social media efforts into something successful.

Content Roadmap

Most companies should create and maintain some type of content roadmap. The content roadmap will usually map out the next 4 weeks of blog posts with an author identified for each post. This helps to ensure that the blog topics are strategically aligned with corporate goals, varied across topics and types of content, and frequent enough to keep the blog active. The person responsible for the blog can work with authors to help identify topics and then make sure that the author has access to everything needed to complete the post (data, technical assistance, etc.) I tend to focus on blog posts in the content roadmap, but you can also include other social media content in the roadmap to make sure that your Twitter account, Facebook page, online community, and more stay up to date and are not forgotten.

Spontaneous Posts

Now that you have a content roadmap, you should also diverge from it frequently to allow for serendipitous blogging and other posts on hot topics or new ideas that people are passionate enough about to want to talk about them immediately. Monitor popular blogs, news sources, and events in your industry and respond to what others are saying. Join the conversation without waiting for the topic to come up on the content roadmap.

Use the Language of the Medium

Social media is not the place to post marketing messages or use other corporate sounding language. Blogs, Twitter and other online communities are more conversational in nature with a focus on person to person interaction and two-way interactions where the company is part of the community. I have a set of social media and social networking best practices with more details on how to participate without embarrassing yourself or your company.

Thought Leadership

The best blogs and other posts have content that focuses on thought leadership. Talk about the things in your industry where your employees have expertise that can be shared with the world. Don’t just talk about your products; focus on your entire industry. Get people to discuss a variety of topics and new ideas. Don’t get stuck in a rut where all of your posts have essentially the same or similar content. You are not a thought leader if all of your posts are simply variations on a single idea. Chime in with your thoughts on a variety of topics across your industry.

Conversations

Always monitor and respond to comments. People get frustrated when they ask questions or provide feedback without any response or acknowledgment. Even worse are those companies that moderate every comment and delete anything that they do not agree with. Let people comment and disagree with your ideas. Some of the most interesting conversations happen in the comments of a blog post. You should also monitor what people are saying about you on other blogs, forums, Twitter, etc. and respond where appropriate.

Blogs are Fun

Have fun with your blog and other social media, and don’t be so serious all of the time. You can include interesting things that are happening within your company that aren’t necessarily work related (photos from a company ski trip). Admit it; you would rather read a post with great content and some humor mixed in, instead of something with great content that drones on and on like an old, boring college lecture. Make the content interesting and fun enough that people will look forward to reading your posts.

You can read more of Dawn Foster's blog posts or learn more about her consulting services by visiting Fast Wonder. http://fastwonderblog.com

Google Chrome v Internet Explorer: Pt. 5

This post will be the last in my five-part series on why Google Chrome beats Internet Explorer as an internet browser. If you've missed one or all of my previous posts in this series, feel free to catch up now:

1: Tabs
2: Amazing Address Bar
3: Screen Size
4: Reliability

The last feature of Google Chrome which I'll tout today is its speed. This may come as a shock to those of you who've never used anything but IE to browse the internet, check your email, etc, but chances are your browsing speed could be significantly improved just by switching internet browsers.

From the beginning, installation alone of IE7 can take upwards of 10 minutes depending on your connection and hardware. For me, Google Chrome has consistently installed itself in less than 3 minutes (and without requiring me to restart my computer!).

Loading new windows in Google Chrome is extremely snappy with its IE counterpart feeling sluggish and impeding. I'm guessing this has more to do with the difference of weight in each browser's chrome, but it could well be something a lot more technical. The same thing goes for loading new tabs--though to a lesser extent.

In addition to these big ones, there are many more subtle ways in which Google Chrome can speed up your online activities. Perhaps the most hyped has been its new JavaScript rendering engine, V8. According to Google, V8 enables its browser to interpret JavaScript code (an increasingly popular internet programming language) at extremely fast rates compared to the preexisting technologies currently employed by other leading internet browsers.

What does this mean for you? It means faster responsiveness when loading and interacting with JavaScript-based web applications like Gmail and Youtube.

See how Google Chrome can accelerate your online pace by trying it out for yourself. Enjoy.

Using a FREE Web App to Resize Your Images

Some of you may recall my last post on image resizing using Microsoft Paint. I thought it was an appropriate post both because a) you wouldn't imagine the number of requests we get from clients regarding instruction on how to resize their website images and b) Microsoft Paint comes preinstalled on all Windows-based machines. While the tutorial does accomplish the task of walking a user through the steps of resizing their images, it fails to accomodate Apple users and involves some approximating. Here's where Pixlr comes in.

Pixlr is an entirely web-based photo-editing application made freely available on the Pixlr website. With it, you can import photos from your hard drive, edit them in real time, and then save the new .jpg as if you had Adobe Photoshop or the likes installed on your local system.

Check out the video below, then bookmark the new tutorial on resizing images using Pixlr. If you're responsible for managing your company's online content, knowing how to accomplish this basic task will help you immensely!

Read the full tutorial on resizing images with Pixlr here.

Portland Gets a Bad Rap!

Cascade Web Development is a Portland, Oregon custom internet development company, and we are PROUD to say it! This week I was traveling to the East Coast to visit a few of our clients in Boston and New Hampshire. I walk into the office of Tyler Kipp, the head of Nordica online and he says "Hey Fritz, you have to see this. Guess what the #1 most depressing city in the U.S. is?" You guessed it, Portland, Oregon. He proceeds to give me hell because I always tell him how good life is on the West Coast and how miserable New Hampshire can be sometimes.

Well, I am writing this article to set the record straight, and show you how stupid the people are that write these things.

If you saw these two images (which they use in the article) what are the first things that come to mind?

The first one, might be something like this:
"Wow, you mean in Portland they actually designed the buildings to complement the exterior environment? Mt Hood looks like another tower in a modest skyline."

OR

"Wait, so I can leave my office and be 6,000 feet up on that mountain in 1 hour?"

The second one might be something like this:
"What is so depressing about a free jazz festival on a sunny day?"

Read the rest of this off-base article.

SkyDrive - 25 GB Free Online Storage

Microsoft recently unveiled the latest and greatest version of their online backup service, SkyDrive. The service allows users with Microsoft Live IDs access to 25 GB of free online storage. The idea seems to be two-fold: first, you could use your 25 GB for backing-up your files and documents to ensure that even if your house burns down, your data is safe. Or, you could use the service as a channel to securely share photos and other multimedia with friends.

Whether or not SkyDrive is going to succeed in the long run, 25 GB is a LOT of free space which will hopefully serve as a trendsetter in the expansion of free online storage services.

For more information or to sign up for 25 GB of free online storage, check out the Microsoft SkyDrive website.

Partnering with Frank to Build IFBikes.com

In the dynamic world of web development--or in the agency world for that matter--you always have to ask the questions, "Who is the client?" and "What do they want and need from this relationship?" On our recent launch for Independent Fabrication, the end customer was not really a CWD client. The client relationship belonged to Frank Creative, one of our creative partners. Frank Creative is a top-tier creative agency located in Portland, OR. The company has a long and successful history of creating brands that rock. You can read more about the company on the Frank Creative website.

In a lot of ways, working with a Partner in this business is like working with a Client.

• We need to educate both parties on our process, focusing on the relationship between solution requirements, timelines, and budget.
  
  
• We need to educate both parties on the strength's and limitations of our development platform, Evergreen.
  
  
• We need to work with both parties on setting clear expectations regarding how and when to use certain technologies to deliver the right mix of form and function.
  

There are also the challenges of designing for the web environment that includes browser and cross platform compatibility issues that aren't a consideration in the print realm.



But there are also some definite ways that the relationship with a Partner differs from working with a Client.

• Timelines are more complex since two parties are being held responsible for meeting deadlines rather than just one.
  
  
• Creative collaboration presents new challenges and opportunities, demanding a need for new types of workflow.
  
  
• Project management takes on a new form as one party (the agency partner) is essentially responsible for interfacing with the client and then translating their feedback into actionable language for the other party (Cascade Web Development in this case).

As a result of these differences in the team make-up and workflow, projects like the recent launch of Independent Fabrication serve to both strengthen our creative partner relationships as well as force us to tighten and refine our processes internally. Over time, these relationships have grown into very tight bonds that create predictable and reliable outcomes that end up benefitting the final solution and client. Combining our talents has lead to some major breakthroughs for Cascade Web Development and our partners. The IF website wasn't the first site we've partnered with a creative agency to build and it certainly won't be the last.

We hope you enjoy the new IF experience and you can look forward to more launches to come from us and our creative partners into the future.

Google Chrome v Internet Explorer: Pt. 4

Ever been surfing the web in Internet Explorer with multiple tabs or windows open when suddenly you’re face-to-face with the following error message? :

As if this interruption to your carefree browsing session weren’t enough, now every tab/window you were working in crashes before your eyes. Crafting a super long email? Better hope your email client backed it up for you. In the middle of an online purchase? Too bad, start over. The list goes on. Having a website malfunction is one thing, but why should that one website negatively impact your entire browser? It shouldn’t, and that’s why Google has employed the “sandbox” approach in Chrome.

In Internet Explorer, whether you’ve got 1 website open, or 11, they are all ultimately tied to the same central process. That means that if something goes wrong on one webpage, it can automatically affect all your other webpages. With sandboxes, Chrome gives each webpage its own process. That way, when something goes wrong, all you’ll have to deal with is the following error message.



Close that one tab and continue surfing. Because only that one process was affected, you won’t have to worry about losing any of your other sessions. Aren’t sandboxes great?

P.S. Try as I might, I was unable to make Google Chrome crash. I snapped the above photo based on the recommendations found on this page.

Download Google Chrome

See Related Posts > Pt. 1: Tabs, Pt. 2: Amazing Address Bar, Pt. 3: Screen Size

Google Chrome v Internet Explorer: Pt. 3

Screen size. It doesn't matter whether we're talking HDTVs or high-resolution computer monitors; everbody wants more screen size. Traversing the Internet is just one example where screen size matters. Whether we're working in a web-based app like GMail or Evergreen, the more we can see, the more we can do. So why then should we be complacent when a browser takes up unneeded space with its interface? Shouldn't a browser stick to what it was created to do--feed us the Internet as quickly and with as little obstructions as possible?

In an ironic twist on its name, Google Chrome sets out to do just that. By reducing the new browser's "chrome"--the graphical interface of the browser--Google has improved on an area where Microsoft Internet Explorer has historically lagged. Click on the image below to view 3 slides highlighting the impact of each browser's chrome on the screen.



If you're into numbers, here are the pixel dimensions of the viewable space within the chrome of each browser configuration on my machine.

	Width	Height	Area (px)
Internet Explorer 7	1440	875	1,260,000
Google Chrome w/ Bookmarks	1444	927	1,338,588
Google Chrome w/o Bookmarks	1444	955	1,379,020

Comparing the two extremes--IE7 default with Google Chrome sin Bookmarks menu*--reveals nearly a 10% difference! While this difference may vary depending on your screen size and resolution, it is certainly a reality and something hopefully you'll think about more the next time you're on the web.

Come back next week for reason #2 to switch to Google Chrome: Reliability.

* I'm including the version of Google Chrome without the Bookmark menu due to how close this configuration is to being a default. All it takes is the following keystroke to hide the Bookmark menu (Ctrl + B).  

Download Google Chrome

See Related Posts > Pt. 1: Tabs, Pt. 2: Amazing Address Bar

Google Chrome v Internet Explorer: Pt. 2

Another great feature of Google Chrome is the address bar. While internet browsers such as Firefox (and yes) even Internet Explorer have incorporated search functionality into their address bars, neither one has done so in such a streamlined way as Google Chrome. 

The GC address bar basically receives two kinds of entries: 1) traditional URLs and 2) search terms. Suppose I wanted to purchase a brand new HDTV from the electronics giant BestBuy. I could hotkey to the address bar (Ctrl + L) and simply start typing the term “bestbuy”. In real time, a list beneath the address bar would begin populating with suggestions according to the following parameters. 

1. your previously inputted search terms
   
2. the highest ranked URL in Google’s index which most closely matches your input
   
3. previous results of related Google searches
   
4. 2 related search term suggestions
   
5. webpages from your browsing history containing the term you’ve typed
   

So for our “bestbuy” example, the following clickable list would appear:

What GC’s address bar ultimately means for you is a more personalized and comprehensive approach to internet browsing. Try it for yourself and see how it stacks up against the competition!

More about the Google Chrome Address Bar

Download Google Chrome

Ever Attended a Webinar?

Michael here, with just a year of web industry experience under my belt, I recently attended my first Webinar. The presenter was CrossTech Partners and the topic was Business Strategies for Content Management, Part 1: Evaluating Web Content Management Solutions. As I mentioned, I had never attended a Webinar before and wasn't entirely sure what to expect. For those of you in the same boat, perhaps a brief summary of my experience may help you decide whether you'd be interested in attending your first as well.

After I had registered to attend, I received a few helpful reminder emails in the days immediately preceding the event. For some, this may have the same effect as SPAM, but on this occasion it helped me stay on track.

Once I had entered "the room", I was presented with two scenes. Off the left were the CrossTech presenters (TJ and Mark) and off the right was a large view of the slideshow they'd be taking us through. Once the Webinar began, the attendees were able to follow the slides and the presenters simultaneously exactly how you would in a traditional seminar.

On the day of the event, I received an email with a link to the Webinar. All I had to do was click it and my browser handled the rest. No software was needed to install, and the Adobe automated setup process took just seconds to complete--web-based applications performing at their finest.

The Webinar lasted about an hour and 10 minutes--a bit long for me, but included valuable information and was presented in a professional manner. Attendees had the ability to submit questions to the presenters through a chat box which were answered in real time during and immediately after the formal Webinar.

Some positive elements of my Webinar experience included: 

• the reception of informative and valuable information delivered through the internet to my computer 
• seamless boot of the web-based presentation software
• a format which encouraged productivity by permitting its attendees to multitask.
  

The one area where I felt the presenters came up short in was the lack of motion throughout all elements of their presentation. Both presenters sat behind a table, hands folded, remaining relatively motionless while the slideshow shambled along at a fairly slow clip. The most exciting part of the presentation was when they switched to a screencast of their propietary software (a way of accentuating the allure of their product perhaps?). By adding more activity to the screen, I believe the presenters could have held the attention of their audience much better.

All in all, I'm glad I took a chance on one of these "Webinars." It was an interesting way of receiving information pertinent to our industry and at the very least provided me with a sense of what to expect in the future.

Resizing Images in Microsoft Paint

Resizing images is a fairly standard task for web content managers. Reason being: most images come in a native resolution far too large for efficient display on the web. For that reason, I finally sat down to write a tutorial on how the Windows-based user can utilize the preinstalled Microsoft Paint to handle their image resizing needs.

Check out the full tutorial in the Evergreen Resources section of our website.

Google Chrome v Internet Explorer: Pt. 1

Internet Explorer (IE): if you're one of the millions of people out there owning a PC, chances are you've used IE at some point to browse the web, check your email, or stream viral video. For most of you, IE is all you've ever used. Perhaps you didn't know that you had options or maybe you just don't like change. Or maybe, Internet Explorer never gave you a reason to doubt (why fix what's not broken right?). Well, this article, and the posts that follow, all seek to inform you that a) you do have options when it comes to internet browsers and b) Google Chrome is one of them.

By now, you've probably heard of Chrome, the new internet browser by Google, Inc. But if internet statistics on browser market share can be trusted, chances are you haven't installed it yet. This will be the first in a series of posts describing the Top 5 reasons you should ditch Internet Explorer in favor of Google Chrome.

We'll start from the bottom and work our way up with #5, Tabs.

Sure, Internet Explorer has tabs (at least starting with Version 7) but they're slow to load and restricted to the window they were born from. In Chrome, tabs load snappy and you can freely manipulate their placement either within the same window, or entirely new windows, allowing you to reorganize your tasks on-the-fly and work (or play) the way YOU want to. Watch the video below to see what I mean, then check back next week for my #4 reason, the Amazing Address Bar.

Download Google Chrome

Durable Bags, from a Memorable Brand

Naked bicyclists, vintage Portsmouth, and tons of beer cans. What do these three things have in common? They are all themes of our most recent launch of the BaileyWorks e-commerce website!

BaileyWorks is a privately-owned handmade bag manufacturing company headquartered in New Hampshire. With a flair for the unique, the company has made a name for itself by promoting its rich culture and strong products.

After 15 years of successful business development offline, the company recently decided to focus on achieving similar success online. For BaileyWorks, that meant an entirely new website from the ground up.

To provide BaileyWorks with a scalable solution that would evolve to meet the changing demands of a growing business, we (Cascade Web Development, Inc.) built the foundations of their website on the Evergreen platform and customized its content management system to handle a number of specific business processes. From managing their product inventory and its dynamically-distributed display to overseeing shipping options and tracking orders, BaileyWorks now has the tools at its disposal to handle nearly all stages of the business cycle.

Blog  |  Videos  |  Community Videos

In addition to equipping the company with a custom-tailored solution to managing their e-commerce system, we also focused our efforts on leveraging the power of social media to enable BaileyWorks to play an active role in their online community. These efforts included the development of (screenshots) an embedded blog, the production of two online videos streaming through popular YouTube.com and Viddler.com, as well as the creation of a video-upload feature on their site for customers to share their own stories. BaileyWorks is now in a position to be as much a part of their community as they please without feeling constrained by technology.

In its first month alone the company experienced an increase in traffic of 3 times the historical average with over 3 times the number of bags sold compared to the previous month!

Cascade Web Development's support for BaileyWorks daily business process did not stop at the website. E-mail, document sharing, calendar, collaboration video and more is now possible with the set-up of Google Corporate. Cascade Web Development has been very excited about this new Google Apps service and BaileyWorks jumped right on board when we explained the benefits of the e-mail interface, collaboration features and custom API's.

Visit the Official Cascade Web Development Website
Visit the BaileyWorks E-Commerce Website

The Fusion of Flash and the Evergreen Development Platform

Salomon Snowboard & Bonfire Apparel

Salomon Snowboard and Bonfire Apparel recently teamed up with Frank Creative and Cascade Web Development to give their respective websites some much-needed revamping. For those of you familiar with Salomon and Bonfire, you know that their brand is built around producing quality products geared towards an active audience. Projecting these qualities on the web was an absolute necessity, and the development team at Cascade Web Development did its part to ensure this result.

Perhaps the singularly most defining feature of these projects is the creative integration of Flash and Evergreen, our Content Management System. Although Flash is often considered to be one of the most effective tools for creating beautifully interactive web environments, in terms of development and management, it can pose quite the headache for nontechnical individuals. Our goal was to take the skillful design work submitted from our project designers (Frank Creative for Bonfire Apparel, and Daniel Julien for Salomon Snowboard), and develop the websites in a way that the Flash pieces could be updated and edited in a seamless process through the use of a content management system. Take the following Athlete Highlight section for example:



What you see when you open this page is a row of Salomon-sponsored athlete ‘heads’. Each one is linked to a bio page where the visitor can read up on that athlete’s interests, recent activities, and random personal facts. Like the rest of the site, this feature is entirely presented in Flash--a component usually requiring the concentrated attention of a professional developer for its maintenance and management. However, being that the client required that their nontechnical staff have management capabilities over the content in this section (as well as all the other content populating both sites), Cascade Web Development needed to build a solution that could serve as a user-friendly intermediary. Allow us to introduce you to Salomon/Bonfire’s Evergreen.

Following our company code of always delivering custom solutions to every client, we dedicated our efforts on this dual-project to developing a version of no-technical-experience-needed, interface. Now with the Bonfire Apparel and Salomon Snowboard sites complete, the client can celebrate the fact that they not only received some of the most visually (and functionally) sophisticated web solutions out there, but that they’ve also been equipped with the tools to manage their websites themselves. As for us (Cascade Web Development), well we can now pat ourselves on the back for pushing the limits of our own expertise, and adding just one more set of skills to our continually evolving repertoire. (Pardon the chest bumping and high fives, we’re simply just that excited!)

All in all, what we hope you’ll gain from this article is that no matter how seemingly challenging your web-based vision is, with the right team on your side, anything is possible. Call us today to see how we can help you through your own personal web challenges.

Visit the Official Cascade Web Development Website
Visit the Bonfire Apparel Site
Visit the Salomon Snowboard Site

ShiftWise

More noise over here at Cascade Web Development. The CWD team has just launched ShiftWise’s newest website following 12 weeks of heavy development.

ShiftWise works in partnership with hospitals to develop and implement a strategic staffing plan to attract, hire, deploy and retain a flexible workforce. They advertise themselves as delivering their software as a service (SaaS) and have already become an established resource for hospitals nationwide.

Here’s a set of screenshots for comparison’s sake. The first image is where ShiftWise was before coming to us. The next one is where we’re at today.

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Click here to visit the ShiftWise site and experience the new features for yourself!

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One of the first things you’ll notice with the new site is its clean look and feel. We’ve done our best to make navigating through the site intuitive and easy. No more distracting aesthetics and chaotic layout. We’ve tried to calm things down a bit and create a look and feel commensurate with the level of professionalism ShiftWise operates with on a daily basis.

Besides the obvious visual changes, a lot has changed for ShiftWise under the hood as well. For one, they’re now working with Evergreen, our Content Management System. The Shiftwise project utilizes two custom modules within Evergreen.

• Training Calendar Module: Prior to working with Cascade Web Dveelopment, Shiftwise training staff managers were working with raw HTML and a legacy Front Page file to create the training calendar. Admins required IT support to upload new files when the calendar was ready for publishing. With the Evergreen Training Calendar Module, Shiftwise staff now completes a simple input form. The system captures the key data points, including Paypal integration, and everything is displayed for the user in a seamless and predictable layout. The application has already saved a great deal of time and money!

• Home Page Calls to Action: Shiftwise wanted to create a dynamic experience for their users. However, extensive use of flash technology to display critical information was not going to work. Load times, lack of flash plug-ins in hospitals and content management drove this decision. We leveraged our extensive experience in AJAX and JAVA script to build a very dynamic experience on the home page. Calls to action in the footer expand to display an array of applications: A form calculator, network search utility, compliance drop down menu and dynamic content.
  

Prior to making the move to Evergreen, the ShiftWise editing process was a complicated system of communicating and tracking the implementation of ideas between Marketing, Management, and IT. Now, the department with the need can hop right into the driver’s seat and bring their idea to life. Management and Marketing are now being supported by IT, without being dependent on them.

Click here to visit the new ShiftWise site!

Trying New Things, Generating More Success

Just recently, T-Mobile announced the release of the newest version of their most popular cell phone, the Sidekick. Cascade Web Development is proud to have played a part in this rollout process. No, T-Mobile didn’t come to us seeking advice on how to create the next best cellular phone, but they did ask us to develop a critical web application for training their national salesforce.

Whenever a new product is released within a major corporation, information regarding its specifications, features, and maintenance all needs to be distributed to those responsible for selling it. Otherwise, what you get when you walk into your favorite electronics store is a bumbling sales clerk who knows less than you about the product you’re after. No one likes that, and its an outcome that successful companies would like to avoid at all costs. That’s why when T-Mobile decided to begin the process of developing the newest Sidekick model, they contacted Cascade Web Development for a custom web application capable of achieving these desired results. Our development team set to work, and 4 weeks later, the project was finished!

If only it were that easy…

Actually, what really happened involved the strategic implementation of various tools that Cascade Web Development had never truly needed to work with before. These included the use of SCORM in an LMS, and the software program Articulate. The application needed to walk the salesperson through the various aspects of the product, quizzing them along the way. The salesperson would be prohibited from progressing through the training program until he/she had completed the required quizzes.

But developing the base solution was only the beginning. T-Mobile needed to manage and track things like user accounts, user activity, and program scores and statistics. Evergreen, our Content Management System, met these challenges head-on by integrating a series of targeted modules. Every user could be tracked, managed, and have their scores reported, so that eligible participants would be entered into various sweepstakes for their own T-Mobile devices.

By harnessing the power of the web, and implemented an incentive-based training system, T-Mobile is continuing to experience success in bringing their sizable salesforce up to speed with the newest installment of their hugely popular product, the Sidekick.

If you think your company would benefit from this type of training application, contact us today. We’d love to hear your thoughts. As a relatively young firm, we’re continually striving to remain on the cutting-edge in terms of what we’re doing on the web.

Internets, Intranets and Extranets, Oh My!

Some of you are already familiar with these terms. Perhaps you’ve been introduced to them through your place of employment or maybe you’re just more informed than the average Joe. In either case, most of you have probably never fully understood what all of these terms mean and in what ways they can differ. This article is purposed to remedy that lack of understanding and to give you some ammo to impress your coworkers with at the next company BBQ.

Internet(s)

While most of us are familiar with the term “the Internet”, few of us recognize that the Internet (also known as the World Wide Web) is simply the largest in its class. Actually, an “internet” is just a “network of networks” where computers are connected to each other through the transference of data. For instance, an internet could be set up such that only two corporate networks were in contact with each other outside of “the” Internet.

Intranets and Extranets

A website can take many forms. Nowadays, many companies and organizations are finding it more and more important to segment the structure of their website to provide two additional forms: the semi-public (extranet) and the private (intranet).

An extranet is that section of a website which is made available only to a limited crowd outside of the organization itself. Extranets are often created to offer secured environments to suppliers, vendors, partners, or other exclusive-rights customers. For instance, you might setup an extranet for your company’s website to allow affiliated businesses access to semi-private data. Or you might create a section of your site where suppliers can view your current inventory levels and respond with shipping you a new order. In either case, these sections are often highly secured and restricted in access.

An intranet is almost the same as an extranet but with a different group of users. Instead of making itself available to outside members, an intranet is often used to connect internal staff. A growing trend in web development these days is the rise in demand for company intranets. More and more businesses are recognizing the value of connecting their employee base across departments and/or branch offices. Intranets can offer employers a platform through which company announcements can be broadcasted, where employees can connect on work and extracurricular topics in a variety of ways, and where secured internal business processes can be conducted. Some aspects of a company intranet might include forums, staff profile sections, and secured file transfer. The intranet is essentially the “staff room” of the public-facing website.

Cascade Web Development has felt the rise in demand for both intranets and extranets and has responded by producing successful solutions for a variety of company objectives.

One of the leading causes of merger and acquisition failure is the inability to reconcile differing cultures. This observation lead AKT to pursue a solution that would allow its employees—both new and old—to make their merger and acquisition transition as seamless as possible. From the installation of an employee directory, complete with staff profiles and photos, to the staff highlight section where exciting news about recent birthdays, staff events, and new births were reported on a daily basis, AKT and Cascade Web Development worked together to overcome the obstacle of cultural incompatibility.

If you think your company could benefit from this type of web-based communication and coordination, contact Cascade Web Development today to discuss creative ways to handle your specific company situation.

Gas Saving Web Applications

I hate idling on the highway. There are few things I hate more and a ton of things I hate less. Not only is it an absolute time-suck to be sitting in my car going 2 miles per hour, taking what should have been a 20 minute ride from work to home and stretching it out to almost three times that amount, but it wastes a ton of gas—and fast.

Neither of those two observations is satisfactory. That’s why I’ve committed this article to helping you empower yourself with some online applications that will give you and your gas tank, some much deserved relief.

Traffic Monitors

Traffic monitoring services have recently been adopted by Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft in their continued efforts to attract a wider audience. These traffic reports are being piped to and delivered through their respective free, online mapping utilities. I’ll save the in-depth comparison of the three services for a later post, but for now, suffice it to say that Microsoft Live Search Maps is the most up-to-date and accurate free traffic reporting tool out there. For a sample of evidence, here’s a series of images taken of the highway I frequent to and from work every day. The images were taken within a five minute period of each other.

While online traffic reporting is generally still limited to covering freeways and highways, if your commute to work passes through one of these areas it can seriously cut down on your travel time.


BeatTheTraffic.com

Another useful tool comes from BeatTheTraffic.com. While the site works to promote the subscription version of its services, the free tools and information it provides may be sufficient to give you the insight you need to plan the best route.

One feature I like is the travel time chart.

One of the most interesting features of this chart is the 3 to 4 pm interval where traffic congestion almost reaches the highest rate of acceleration of the day. This tells me that if I can hit the highway as close to 3 as possible, I’ll minimize my traffic time.

Another interesting, though arguably useless feature, is the ability to see updated photos of traffic along a highway.

I say useless since its fairly difficult to judge from a photo how fast traffic is moving. For me, this tool is nothing more than a novelty.

Gas Price Index

Interested in finding the lowest gas prices in your area? Try PortlandGasPrices.com. Powered by GasBuddy.com, PortlandGasPrices.com is a powerhouse of information. It will display a multitude of gas prices in your area from all types and sizes of gas stations. One useful feature is the ability to search by gas category (regular, midgrade etc.). Not everyone uses regular, and for those people, PortlandGasPrices.com is an especially excellent resource.

If PortlandGasPrices.com happens to overwhelm you, trot on over to MapQuest for another great resource. Click on the Gas Prices button near the top left and enter in your location. MapQuest will then spit out the lowest gas prices in your area along with their destinations. MapQuest will also sort by gas category.

So that was a primer on how you can tap into some great online resources to help you save on gas and time in your weekly routine. After using these services and fine tuning them to my own schedule and route, I was able to cut my average commute time down from 45 minutes to 23!

What is a CMS?

CMS stands for Content Management System and represents one of the most essential tools for updating and managing your website.

All websites are encoded at some level in a programming language. Unfortunately, most of us aren’t versed well enough in these languages to use them effectively in managing our websites. That’s where a CMS comes in. A CMS provides a gateway between the non-technical individual and his/her website which can require little to no familiarity with programming languages. If you are able to use a computer, you are able to work a CMS.

Whether you know it or not, you’ve probably already used a CMS. Social networking sites like facebook and MySpace implement their own versions of a CMS. When you access the control panel of your facebook account to change your Contact Information or ID Photo, you’re accessing the backend of your personal webpage through their CMS utility. While their CMS tools are relatively inflexible compared to the types of CMS tools being discussed in this article, they still reflect key aspects of Content Management Systems.

Say you’ve decided to launch a website from scratch and say you’ve found a CMS that you believe will be effective and simple enough to use. Once you’ve logged in, you now have the ability to create new pages instantly, add text and images with just a few clicks, and implement a complete navigation system reflecting your dynamically developed information architecture. And now for the best part: it took you just 20 min and little to no technical experience.

That’s the beauty of the CMS. It’s designed specifically to make these tasks fast and easy. Successful developers cater the composition of their systems to your needs—instead of demanding it be the other way around.

We here at Cascade Web Development are successful developers. Our in-house technical team has created what we believe is the most intuitive, easy-to-use Content Management System on the market. We’ve titled it Evergreen, and have proudly garnered a significant number of followers in our clients.

The strength of Evergreen lies in its simplicity. Instead of bombarding our users with unnecessary features and superfluously glitzy packaging, we’ve focused on improving and fine-tuning those aspects of web development that have proven to be truly critical to the content manager (You). We’ve done our best to streamline the process as much as possible and create the most intuitive user experience imaginable.

If you think you’re interested in reading more about our CMS solution, feel free to browse the Evergreen section of our website. Decide for yourself whether you think Evergreen is right for you, then contact us if you’re ready to discuss specifics. We regularly make ourselves available to our clients and interested individuals for technical assistance and general support needs.

So this has been the first in a series of articles discussing the various aspects and capabilities of Evergreen, our Content Management System. Keep a lookout for future articles where I will be highlighting various tips on how you can more efficiently implement Evergreen in your web development routine.

Business' future on the web

It has been interesting to watch the trends of the web flow between business applications and personal entertainment. The two have in many ways driven the technology overall. Web 2.0, a buzz word by most people's standards, was a way to talk about all of the websites created around social networking for individual use. Enterprise 2.0, a way of talking about how web 2.0 is applied to business cases, represents a much larger mindset that business managers must understand to be successful.

For example, let's say your company is in an M&A situation. Why do most M&A's fail? Culture! Connecting people and their cultures is no simple task. An Enterprise 2.0 intranet created for the culture can really make a difference. Knowledge sharing, another major corporate challenge, can also be facilitated with enterprise 2.0 applications. 

To learn more about Enterprise 2.0 click here

Google Sites Debate

This is a very interesting article exploring the new Google Sites Application. The application aims to help teams and companies collaborate. The same thing CWD does. However, there are things to be cautious about with Gsite. The basic debate is around IT, content protection and features. Read some of the comments (the 3-4th one) in this article. I see a niche in the middle between totally open google sites and IT bogged down feature rich applications.

AMA Max Awards: Moon Boot Give Away

At the AMA Max Awards, CWD offered up a free pair of Moon Boots for booth passers by. It was a hit! Obviously, this must be one of the best Swag items ever created!!

Winner:

Karen Gibson, Creative Director from Orange
Karen can't resist anything orange! It seemed almost fate that her card was pulled out of the Moon Boot by a passer by from Angel Vision. Have a look at this attached image. Most marketing campaigns don't integrate this well!! On top of it all, Karen does great work. It was a pleasure getting to know her and the Orange Creative work when she dropped by the office last Friday.

The AMA Max awards was a blast for us. The Vibrant Table Event application, nominated for Best Web Campaign, created a lot of buzz. The depth and functionality of this tool blew most people away. It is amazing how these tools can transform a business process!

The AKT brand and web project was also a huge success for Cascade Web Development. We would like to publicly thank our partner YRG Communications for doing such a pro job on the message and brand design.

Visit our website or contact us for more information about Cascade Web Development or Evergreen Content Management!

Web Applications for College Students

Last week I gave 2 presentations at the Art Institute of Portland.  The first to a project management class, the second to a technology class. 

The talk went something like this: What is software as a service? Think about it as running the same software as you use on your computer at home, but faster and better because the computer you have at home is nothing like Blue Genie or the servers companies like VMware are using these days. See how much more you can do if you harness the power of web applications? As college students you are using web applications every day. Google docs, Facebook, Del.ic.ious (which none of them used by the way), Blogger, IM, and many more. These are all forms of SAS or hosted applications. Now what does that mean to help you communicate and collaborate with others? Let's think about it from a business perspective. As project manager, I need to work with people in remote offices, I need to find a way to bring everyone on the same page. Make sure they know what is happening and have access to information they need. 

As students you can start to use these tools in class projects. Use google docs rather than passing a word doc around with a crazy version code. Use del.ic.ious to store links and resources to project research. If you put these tools to use, then once you get into the business world, you can create and use these same tools, but in a closed business extranet or intranet. 

Then I exposed them to web project management applications to see how this was implemented. MS sharepoint, Basecamp, Whitepass from Cascade Web Development, and Vibrant Table Events.  I think it really hit home when they saw how similar these tools can be. In the end it is all about working with people, finding opportunities to make them shine.

CWD - Best Web Campaign of 2006 by AMA-PDX

After rave reviews in industry publications such as "Internet Retailer" CWD was recognized for their work with Nordica USA!

In January, Cascade Web Development was selected as a finalist by the American Marketing Association for their annual MAX Awards (Marketing Award of Excellence) . Our work for Nordica USA is up against Freightliner and Kettle Foods for the Best Web Campaign of 2006. Watch this video to see a preview of all finalists.



More about the project:
When Nordica contacted CWD to help them evolve and innovate their web efforts, the term web 2.0 was just hitting mass media. Web 2.0 has since become a buzz word of sorts, but the philosophy behind it speaks well to some of the technology used in our development process with Nordica.

Nordica has over 1700 dealer locations throughout the US. They turned to CWD looking for a better way to communicate with their key stakeholders. We helped Nordica realize the opportunity for creating a community on the web. By analyzing their current communications strategy with their dealer network, we were able to identify aspects that would prove efficient and effective in keeping with Web 2.0. First, we created a design that encouraged a "lounge" look and feel for the site. We wanted the user to experience the site and not so much navigate through it in a liner fashion. Second, we asked user to create their own user profiles, to which we could attach rewards when the user completed a technical training quiz or recorded their in store sales. Finally we developed the Nordica sales incentive program and integrated it into the web. Nordica realized an immediate ROI on their investment. Understanding that the users on this site could be major influencer's of the bottom line, the experience we created for them was highly valuable.

Evergreen Content Management

Cascade Web Development has been working diligently on the evolution of our content management system, Evergreen. Many of our clients have put this technology to use, saving them time and money! If you have not used it, the tool is simple and easy. If you have, you know what I am talking about. Check out this screen cast to see just how easy it is to build a link into your website.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW SCREEN CAST

If you have additional questions, please contact CWD at info@cascadewebdev.com

What did you do this morning?

At CWD this is how we do it. Seamless to our clients and invaluable to our lifestyles, we strive to achieve new challenges and reach new heights. Metaphors aside, we love what we do...

Bussiness Partnerships for the Future

Developing real, trusting partnerships is essential for any growing company. At CWD it is our life blood. Organic growth is what we are all about. We are building relationships with our clients that instill trust that, will be around when they need support or advise. Today, we feel fortunate for one relationship in particular, www.dccconsulting.com. We connected with DCC Consulting years back. The relationship has grown over the years. We have gone out of our way to put our tools in their hands, helping them do business better. In return they have been incredibly appreciative and generous in their reference to CWD as a top notch resource for everything on the web. CWD just launched the new DCC Consulting website. It is best to let the client speak to the success of the project.


“It’s crucial in our line of work that we remain competitive and fresh,” stated VP of Marketing and Operations, Chrissy Kelley. “Not only did we feel a new company brand would enhance our potential new business opportunities, but we have worked to design our new site to be informational and useful for our current customer base as well.” Working closely with the team at Cascade Web Development, you will find a fresh, modern website that demonstrates just how technology and image are crucial in the growing business world. The expansion of the DCC Consulting website will allow clients to continue seeing advanced technology implementation, updated technology news, and will provide clients with the opportunity to participate in quarterly contests.


Thanks to our clients and friends, Dave Chapman and Chrissy Kelly!

Team Work

There is something to be said for power of the communication tools we have in our hands these days. I work with a group of people that I have spent about 20 hours with, EVER. Yet when we got together for our Holiday party this year it was like a group of good old boys. That is amazing and I always laughed at people that said they met their partner on the web. Well I met many of my coworkers on the web and I am cool with all of them. Not to say that I want to date them, but I am happy to keep working with them.

If you want to connect with your friends, family and coworkers, try the following tools:

SKYPE
GOTOMEETING
Flickr

El Camino

We are just hitting our stride in the internet revolution. The best is yet to come.

In 1908 the Ford Motor company put out the first Model T and in 1913 the assembly line was first used. These two moments changed our lives and allowed the World economy to grow exponentially. About 40 years later, Chevrolet, a brain child of the Ford Motor Company, developed the El Camino. The El Camino was a revolutionary production; utility and style all in one. What a great thing?

Google, My Space and salesforce.com are the El Camino of the internet era. Like Ford, the internet has changed our lives and allowed the World economy to grow exponentially. But where are we now? Just hitting our stride. The above mentioned websites seem like the Holy Grail right now, but they are not. We have a world of innovation ahead. Just think if we had stopped at the El Camino?

Companies that realize this future are better equipped for growth. Don't allow your company to satisfy for a web presence that simply tells your story. Use the internet to create business, do business and maintain business. Take what you do today and see yourself doing it better, faster and more efficient; that is what the Toyota Prius does.